Full time: Arsenal 0-2 Barcelona
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeep! It’s all over at the Emirates, where two second-half goals from Lionel Messi have left Arsenal with it all to do at Camp Nou. They trail 2-0 following a game in which they had several chances to score, but ultimately succumbed to two sucker punches from the World Player of the Year. Barcelona played well, but let’s not kid ourselves - Arsenal had a real chance to take something out of this game. They’ve failed to do so and more questions will be asked of Arsene Wenger in the event of their exit from the tournament after the second leg.
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90+2 min: A bad night for Arsenal almost gets worse, but Petr Cech does well to save from Neymar, who should have scored with a header from close range.
90 min: Both sets of players are going through the motions now on what will be another night of wistful what-might-have-beens for Arsenal. Barcelona have been well below their scintillating best this evening, but look likely to run out comfortable winners.
87 min: As much as I’d like to report that Barcelona’s one-two has knocked the wind out of the sails of Arsenal’s supporters, they don’t seem any more quiet now than they were during the rest of the game. If Arsenal’s 11 players had performed as sluggishly as their 12th man, they’d have been mullered tonight.
85 min: Gerard Pique gets booked for a foul on Danny Welbeck, which means he’ll miss the second leg through suspension. So determined did he look to bring Welbeck down and incur the referee’s wrath that a cynic might surmise he’d actually been looking for the card and a night off.
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GOAL! Arsenal 0-2 Barcelona (Messi 83)
Leo Messi sends Petr Cech the wrong way to score into the bottom left-hand corner. Oh, Arsenal.
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Penalty for Barcelona!
Mathieu Flamini comes on for Francois Coquelin and immediately brings down Leo Messi in the Arsenal penalty area.
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80 min: Arsenal waste another great opportunity to score as Aaron Ramsey fails to poke home from close range as he attempted to convert a knock-down from Danny Welbeck. Ter Stegen saves.
78 min: Suarez rifles a shot against the Arsenal woodwork from close range after being put in by Messi. The ball had squirted his way when Neymar squandered what looked like a good scoring opportunity after the ball got caught under his feet. A stroke of luck there for Arsenal, who were all over the place defensively. Suarez hammered the ball against the woodwork when he had no shortage of open goal to aim for.
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75 min: Arsenal substitution (made straight after the goal): Danny Welbeck on for Olivier Giroud.
73 min: Sixteen seconds. That’s how long it took Barcelona to get the ball from one end of the field into the back of the Arsenal net. Neymar it was who did the hard yards, but Messi’s finish was fairly straightforward, lifting the ball over Cech to score past the Arsenal goalkeeper for the first time in seven encounters.
GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Barcelona (Messi 72)
Oh dear. Barcelona score with a lightning fast counter-attack. Suarez pounced on a clearance from Pique and plays the ball to Neymar. He sprints forward with Messi unmarked to his right, slots the ball into the Argentinian’s path and he duly delivers the sucker-punch.
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70 min: Arsenal win a free-kick in a good area, but Ozil’s delivery into the box is poor and Barcelona clear easily.
69 min: Francois Coquelin squares the ball into the Barcelona penalty area from the right, but his low drilled delivery manages to evade the three team-mates who were queuing up to poke it home. Moments previously, Giroud had squandered a half -chance, attempting to pick out Theo Walcott when he should have gone for goal himself.
68 min: Good play from Alexis Sanchez, who is strong in the challenge as he tracks back to take on Leo Messi and draws a foul from the Argentinian.
66 min: Just inside the Arsenal penalty area, Leo Messi sells Koscielny a dummy and shapes to shoot, only for Per Mertesacker to step in and block his effort.
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65 min: Arsenal win a free-kick halfway inside the Barcelona half for some indiscretion or other perpetrated by Pique. Ozil sents the ball lofting into the penalty area and following an unseemly scramble, Iniesta is forced to make a crucial block to prevent Sanchez from scoring.
64 min: Another corner for Barcelona. It’s played short, but Neymar and Messi get their wires crossed and Arsenal clear their lines.
61 min: Giroud gets a crucial block on an attempted cross from Messi after the Argentinian had been played into the Arsenal penalty area by a wonderful dinked pass over the Arsenal defence from Iniesta. It’s a corner for Barcelona, but nothing comes of it.
59 min: Arsenal go close courtesy of another Ozil pull-back towards Giroud, whose attempt to fire off a round are thwarted by a robust interception from Mascherano. Moments later, the French striker goes close again, getting his head to a cross and sending the ball towards the bottom left-hand corner, only for Marc-Andre ter Stegen to get down and make a wonderful save.
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58 min: Francois Coquelin is penalised as he contests a 50-50 ball with Dani Alves, who rolled around the ground making a meal of things. It’s just in front of the Arsenal dug-out and Arsene Wenger is not best pleased with the Brazilian’s tomfoolery.
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56 min: Jordi Alba gets all up in Olivier Giroud’s grill after the Arsenal striker had caught him as the two contested a loose ball. contact was minimal, but the Barcelona full-back went down very theatrically, only to bounce straight back up and move his head towards Giroud’s face. He gets a ticking-off, but no card of any colour from the referee.
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55 min: Mertesacker sticks out a leg to make a crucial interception as Neymar attempted to pick out Messi with a ball squared across the edge of the six-yard box. Great defending - Arsenal were in all sorts of bother there.
54 min: Dani Alves charges forward through the centre before pickking out Neymar with a diagonal pass to his left. Koscielny intervenes and clears.
50 min: Alexis Sanchez picks out Walcott with a cross-field pass, which the substitute controls with a deft header. Barcelona win the ball back and go forward, with Iniesta pulling the strings. After one foiled attempt to pick out a team-mate in the box, he tries a shot himself. Arsenal hack clear. Barcelona are in complete control in the early stages of this second half and with Arsenal’s players getting increasingly tired as they chase and harry, it’s beginning to look like a matter of when, rather than if the Spanish side will score.
49 min: Arsenal substitution: Chamberlain hobbles off to be replaced by Theo Walcott.
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48 min: Petr Cech is forced into his first save of the match after Neymar is put through on goal by Neymar. The Brazilian shoots straight at Cech, incurring the Messi death stare for his troubles. The Argentinian was unmarked a few yards out and screaming for the pass.
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47 min: Theo Walcott is ready to come on for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who appears to have knacked his calf in that collision with Javier Mascherano late in the first half.
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Second half: Arsenal 0-0 Barcelona
46 min: There was an alarming moment as the players emerged for the second half, when an Arsenal groundsman wielding a fork with which he’d been prodding bits of the pitch, sprinted towards Neymar. Mercifully, his intentions were not murderous and he jogged past the Brazilian without puncturing, or even attempting to puncture him. Barcelona, wearing all blue, get the second half under way and there are no changes in personnel on either side.
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Elsewhere in the Champions League ...
Bayern Munich lead Juventus 1-0 at half-time in Turin, with Thomas Muller bagging the only goal of the game just before the break. Tim Hill’s covering that one for us on a minute-by-minutely basis ...
Half-time at the Emirates: Arsenal 0-0 Barcelona
It’s scoreless at half-time and Arsen Wenger will be very pleased with the opening 44 minutes of the half when Barcelona enjoyed the lion’s share of possession but Arsenal had two great chances to take the lead. In the closing 90 seconds of the half, Barcelona squandered two good chances of their own, but if not I’m very much mistaken, Petr Cech has yet to make an actual save of any kind.
45+1 min: Suarez misses an absolute sitter - heading over from a glorious volleyed cross from Dani Alves, when scoring looked far easier. That’s a real let-off for Arsenal, who look in grave danger of blowing all their excellent work earlier in the half.
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45 min: Barcelona cut through the Arsenal defence like a hot knife through butter. Ramsey squandered possession, giving the ball away as he attempted to pick out Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Neymar duly pounced, picking out Messi, who in turn played the ball to Suarez in acres of space in the penalty area.Rather than shoot, he attempted to pull the ball across the face of goal, allowing Arsenal to clear.
43 min: Barcelona win a throw-in deep in their own half, which Jordi Alba plays back towards Marc-Andre ter Stegen, the goalkeeper. Arsenal’s forward players go for the heavy press again, but again Barcelona work the ball forward as if they aren’t there.
40 min: Corner for Barcelona after good defensive work from Aaron Ramsey, up against the combined forces of Rakitic and Messi. Nothing comes from it and when Neymar eventually gets a cross into the Arsenal box, Petr Cech gathers comfortably.
39 min: Scurrying towards the edge of the Arsenal penalty area, Leo Messi attempts to scoop the ball into space for Luis Suarez to fire home. His attempted pass goes straight into Aaron Ramsey’s mush and Arsenal clear.
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38 min: Both Chamberlain and Mascherano needed treatment after that collision. The Barcelona enforcer seems fine, but Chamberlain is carrying himself a little gingerly.
37 min: Arsenal break on a counter-attack and it’s three-on-three. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain charges down the left flank, but a poor touch enables Javier Mascherano to put a stop to his gallop as, rushing towards the penalty area, Olivier Giroud screams for the ball. Chamberlain should have done better there. He had his head down, eyes focussed on the ball and couldn’t see that he had not one, but two players up in support.
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Dangerous free-kick for Barcelona ...
34 min: Nutmegged by Leo Messi, Laurent Koscielny concedes a free-kick just outside the Arsenal penalty area, on the edge of the D. It’s dead centre. Messi steps up to take the free-kick, but it’s a poor effort that goes straight into the wall.
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32 min: I’ve just seen a replay of that Oxlade-Chamberlain miss from 10 minutes ago. That’ll haunt him to the grave ... If he’d got any sort of elevation on the effort he drove straight at Ter Stegen, who was lying on the ground at the time, he’d have scored.
31 min: From the inside-left position, Neymar attempts to pick out Leo Messi with a cross. It’s a mite too high for the Atomic Midget, who gets his head to the ball ahead of Nacho Monreal, but is unable to keep his effort down.
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30 min: There’s another interruption in play as Chamberlain is penalised for attempting an early shirt-swap with Lionel Messi as Barcelona broke on the counter-attack. It was a fair cop, but Arsenal’s supporters don’t agree. They’re getting frustrated with the referee.
29 min: Nacho Monreal plays the ball down the left touchline to Alexis Sanchez, who picks out a run by Aaron Ramsey. Good play, but Barcelona clear.
27 min: Alexis Sanchez is penalised for a foul on Dani Alves and is not one bit happy about it. The referee took an eternity to blow his whistle and replays suggest Alves made rather a meal of a fairly innocuous challenge, as is his wont.
26 min: Alexis Sanchez is felled by Sergio Busquets and Arsenal’s players and supporters appeal for a free-kick. None is forthcoming.
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24 min: Gerard Pique stretches to put the ball out for a corner, as Aaron Ramsey galloped down the inside left and attempted to pick out Girous with a cross. From the ensuing set piece, the ball’s arrowed towards the near post, but the delivery is poor and Suarez clears.
21 min: Arsenal miss two glorious chances to take the lead in very quick succession. Getting on to another pull-back from Ozil, Hector Bellerin fails to put his laces through the ball and sees his low drive blocked. The ball breaks kindly for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had the goal at his mercy and all the time in the world to pick his spot and bury the ball, but elects instead to shoot straight at Ter Stegen from no more than 10 yards. That’s a dreadful miss. Dreadful.
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19 min: Neymar cuts in from the left flank, leaves Chamberlain and Bellerin in his wake but runs into a thicket of bodies on the edge of the area and loses the ball.
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18 min: Dani Alves has been making a series of runs deep into Arsenal territory and on this occasion he gets the ball and picks out Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan wriggles into the Arsenal penalty area, but runs into Laurent Koscielny, who robs him of possession and clears.
16 min:Possession stats: Arsenal 30% 70% Barcelona.
15 min: Barcelona play the ball out of their own half, down the right flank, with Dani Alves, Leo Messi, Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta combining well to get a cross in. Cech gathers.
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14 min: Corner for Barcelona, won by Ivan Rakitic. The ball’s played in towards Luis Suarez in the Arsenal penalty area, where Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain clears.
14 min: “They’re pressing really well, Arsenal. It’s been a good start for them,” says BT Sport co-comms man Steve McManaman.
12 min: Arsenal win a free-kick halfway inside the Barca half. Mesut Ozil plays the ball into the Barca penalty area, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen wastes no time in dashing off his line to claim it.
11 min: It’s been an encouraging opening 10 minutes for Arsenal, who have looked the better of the two teams so far. Barcelona have got off to a fairly slow start by their own typically high attack-like-a-swarm-of-bees standards.
8 min: Great stuff from Arsenal, who get the ball to the byline before pulling it back to Ramsey, courtesy of Ozil. In front of the Barcelona goal, he has to stretch backwards to get a shot off and is unable to get much power on his effort. Javier Mascherano blocks. If he’d been teed up a little better by Ozil, you’d have really fancied him to score.
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7 min: Foolish play from Nacho Monreal, with the Arsenal left-back picking up an early yellow card for a completely unnecessary challenge on Ivan Rakitic.
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5 min: Aaron Ramsey almost gets on the end of a lovely edge-of-the-Barcelona area dink along the ground from Mesut Ozil, but his first touch lets him down.
3 min: Barcelona ping the ball around inside their own half, with assorted Arsenal players putting them under another heavy press. Barcelona’s players don’t look unduly bothered by the attention and just play their way through. No chances to report so far.
2 min: Barcelona attempt to play the ball out from the back, with Olivier Giroud putting heavy pressure on Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Barcelona get the ball up the field, where Aaron Ramsey fouls Neymar. The ball’s pinged across the face of the six-yard box, where Dani Alves gets a flick, but the flag goes up for offside from the free-kick.
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Arsenal v Barcelona is go ...
1 min: Arsenal kick-off and begin quickly, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain attempting to pick out Olivier Giroud with a cross from the left after good work from Mesut Ozil. Jordi Alba gets a foot in to prevent Chamberlain’s delivery finding its man.
The time for pleasantries is NOT over ,,,
I jumped the gun, there. Mertesacker and Iniesta exchange pennants as the referee tosses the coin. Now the time for pleasantries is over.
Not long now ...
Following a splendid light show, the teams emerge from the tunnel at the Emirates, with Per Mertesacker leading the home team and Andres Iniest wearing the captain’s armband for the visitors. The kid holding Per Mertesacker’s hand looks like the happiest little boy in the world, but will there be tears before bed-time? The light show has now given way to a decidedly environmentally unfriendly plastic bag show (see below), with supporters around the ground waving their free tat to make a giant red and white collage. The players shake hands and the time for pleasantries is over. Kick-off is in two minutes.
Plastic bags are more useful than plastic flags I suppose pic.twitter.com/Lg20NMBvfR
— Dion Fanning (@dionfanning) February 23, 2016
Arsene Wenger speaks ...
Asked by Des Kelly how he’ll get a result tonight, he has this to say: “By defending well and attacking well - it’s easier said than done. We need a great solidarity and to play all our players at their best and I think we’ll have a chance.
On the inclusion of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain instead of Theo Walcott or Joel Campbell: “I don’t want to explain my decisions before the game, because it’s too complicated. But at the end of the day you make your decision and you hope it’s the right one.”
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No place for Theo Walcott or Danny Welbeck
Me? I’d have picked Danny Welbeck, but BT Sport pundit Ian Wright is puzzled by the absence of Theo Walcott from the Arsenal line-up. He reckons Walcott’s pace would have given Barcelona plenty to think about. There are no surprises in the Barcelona line-up and the three amigos, Leo Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar are currently warming up together on the Emirates pitch.
Ivan Rakitic and Olivier Giroud speak ...
Speaking to Des Kelly on BT Sport, the Barcelona midfielder says: “It will be a really hard game.”
In a separate interview, Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud says: “Barcelona are certainly the best team in Europe and in the world. We know that we can beat strong teams, so why not tomorrow.”
Rakatic on Barcelona’s three strikers: “We know how important it is to have our strikers, but they know what they have behind them.”
Giroud on Barcelona’s three strikers: “They are very complementary ... they play one for each other.”
Rakatic: We are really happy with our three strikers and I hope they will be at the same high level in the next game.
Giroud on the key to success for Arsenal: “We need to find the balance between good commitment and keeping our nerves. We want to do something special.”
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I'm at Emirates this evening...this is how I think Arsenal will play: heavy pressing early, then a big retreat https://t.co/LhkqRvyqOc
— Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking) February 23, 2016
Arsenal v Barcelona line-ups ...
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud.
Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Walcott, Flamini, Chambers, Welbeck, Campbell.
Barcelona: ter Stegen, Dani Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta, Suarez, Messi, Neymar.
Subs: Bravo, Munir, Sergi Roberto, Adriano, Aleix Vidal,
Vermaelen, Mathieu.
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey)
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The Guardian's Daniel Taylor tweets ...
The recently crowned Sports Journalist Association football writer of the year brings us big news ...
Been told today Arsenal devoted their training session yesterday to playing with a pressing 'block' high up the pitch.
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) February 23, 2016
And, on a lighter note, this https://t.co/xZOKfOodGu
— Dave Yates (@thebedfordfox) February 23, 2016
A shout-out to Handel ...
A tweet from Mirror racing tipster Dave Yates, who is a very cultured cove, reveals that George Frideric Handel, the genius who composed Zadok The Priest (aka The Champions League Music), was born today in 1685. “He also wrote this,” says Dave.
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Some stats ...
- Leo Messi has failed to score in six matches against Petr Cech
- Barcelona are unbeaten in 32 matches, a run stretching back to 3 October
- In those 32 matches, Barcelona have scored 98 goals.
- Barcelona’s front three have scored 91 goals between them this season
- Barcelona have conceded four goals on three occasions this season
- Barcelona have failed to score on three occasions this season
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Luis Enrique's pre-match views ...
“On paper this is one of the most attractive and appealing games if you like this kind of football,” said the Barcelona manager yesterday. “Arsenal are a good team, strong in the transition and with really good players up front. They will press high at times but I hope we can keep the ball in their half and impose our own game.
“Being labelled favourites means nothing. We have to prove ourselves game after game and we are going to try to. If we get a good score tomorrow that would be fantastic, but we have a lot of confidence going into the second leg whatever happens.
“I am delighted to have such a good front three, and also with the squad as a whole. They are all the chosen ones because they are fantastic. I’m absolutely delighted to be their manager. I just say ‘abracadabra’ and the magic sparks.”
Arsène Wenge's pre-match views ...
“No team is perfect, but Barcelona are not far from it,” said the Arsenal manager at his press conference yesterday. “We need to take our chances. We will have less of the ball than against Hull, but we have to make the most of it.
“They have top strikers. Maybe they look like they are having a little bit less possession at the moment because they used to have Xavi in midfield. They have a team that can score at any moment. Even when they are being dominated they are still very dangerous. They did that in the final last year against Juventus when it was 1-1. They were suffering but they took their chances when they arrived.
“I knew Luis Enrique as a player. He scored against us at Wembley in the Champions League. He has done a remarkable job because he arrived with scepticism around him and won the treble in his first year. I remember we played the Champions League final against Barcelona in 2006 and Messi was injured for that game. It’s remarkable that was ten years ago and what he has achieved in that time.”
Early team news ...
Having been rested for Arsenal’s scoreless draw against Hull City in the FA Cup on Saturday, goalkeeper Petr Cech and midfielders Mesut Özil and Aaron Ramsey are expected to return to Arsenal’s starting eleven this evening,. Gabriel remains in the treatment room with a hamstring injury, where he’s been keeping long-term absentees Tomas Rosicky, Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere up to speed with what’s going on in the outside world.
Rafinha remains Barcelona’s only long-term absentee, having been sidelined with ruptured knee ligaments in September. Luis Enrique rested Gerard Pique and Ivan Rakitic for Barcelona’s laboured win over Las Palmas at the weekend, while Sergio Busquets missed out on that La Liga game through suspension. All three are expected to play against Arsenal.
Some pre-match reading ...
In the build-up to this evening’s game, assorted Guardian writers have been typing their fingers to the bone in an effort to bring you as much pre-match skinny as possible. We’ve collated their musings below, for your reading pleasure.
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Daniel Taylor: Wenger demands discipline to avoid Barca knife through heart
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Sean Ingle: Focus on Suárez and Messi and you risk taking your eyes off Neymar
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Barney Ronay: Luis Enrique predicts duel to shred the nerves of Arsenal fans
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Wenger: Arsenal will score, but stopping Barcelona is the problem
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Sid Lowe: Luis Suárez adds vertigo to push Barcelona towards new heights
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Martin Laurence previews this week’s Champions League matches
Arsenal v Barcelona preview ...
They go again. For the sixth consecutive season, Arsenal line up for the Champions League round of 16 having failed to advance to the next stage in any of the previous five. If they are avoid going nought for six and emulate their most recent quarter-final appearance in 2009-10, they will have to overcome Barcelona, the team that swept them aside over two legs on that occasion by an average score of 6-3.
Back then, Arsenal also had home advantage in the opening leg but went 2-0 down to a Zlatan Ibrahimovic brace before goals from Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas put them back in contention. Their efforts were in vain, as in the second leg Lionel Messi “made the impossible possible”, running amok as he scored all four goals for Barcelona in a victory that gave the Catalan side a 6-3 aggregate win. Barcelona went on to eliminate Arsenal again in the following’s year’s Round of 16 and since then Arsene Wenger’s side has repeatedly fallen at the same hurdle, going out to AC Milan, Bayern Munich twice and then Monaco.
Now Barcelona are back in town for another appointment; Arsenal’s reward for the unconvincing late scramble they needed to emerge from the group stages. Kick-off at the Emirates tonight is at 7.45pm GMT, but tune in for team news and build-up for at least an hour before that.
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